Tidbits on NEVS from TTELA

TTELA recently posted an interesting article that sheds some light on the development work and progress of NEVS and their new electric cars. In “Här skapas Nevs nya bilmodeller” (Here the new car models of Nevs are created), TTELA got access to three out of four development rooms at the Stallbacka plant.

NEVS main entrance at the Stallbacka plant in Trollhättan. Picture: Michèl Annink

According to Frank Smit, project manager at NEVS, the whole company is involved in their projects, with 8 people being responsible for different main areas. They work with a large number of engineers in Trollhättan, while close to 80 people are working simultaneously in China (among other things with the new plant there).

As mentioned, they didn’t get access to one particular development room. That room might contain a new Phoenix based electric car.

One of the current projects at NEVS is the development of the third generation NEVS 9-3. “We are working on a new battery and a new electric engine”, Frank Smit says. Even though these cars are based on the Saab 9-3 from 2002, they have basically been built from scratch. There are about 30 NEVS 9-3 in existance in Trollhättan right now and approx. 10 NEVS 9-3 in China.

They also discuss transportation of the cars from Trollhättan to China, where NEVS claim that the Trans-Siberian railway is faster than transport by boat. Tests of the train rails in the Stallbacka plant has therefore recently been made.

Finally, there’s a clock counting down above one of the doors to the development rooms. It’s marked “Time Remaining” and at the time of TTELA’s visit (last Saturday), it was at 334 days. This is most likely a count down for the first car in China. According to Frank Smit this will happen in the second half of 2017.

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Seems that the updated 9-3 will get the door handles and the rear view mirrors from the NG9-5 (as seen on the countdown picture). I am excited to see what they have done with the (now covered) front end.

Interesting. Didnt see that. And another thing is that it seems to be something on the left side of the photo, that they also feel needed to hide. It might be another 9-3 in another color, or……the speculations and buzz starts up ……. 🙂

The article at TTELA actually says “A large number of painted car bodies is going to be delivered from Trollhättan, as NEVS previously has told”. And regarding “second half of 2017”, it’s probably when the first electric car is done in China. The post above is a summary/translation of the article at TTELA. There were no news in the article about the car body in white start up.

(found the Reply button!!!!!) Rune, currently those bodies would go to the Tianjin factory, which is quite far north in the Chinese coastal line. Looking at the map, it feels like a “why not!!” solution. And I think that not only the shipping time will be reduced, but also the reaction time will be increased. How many of those bodies will you have to build till it is worth while to send them to China? It looks like it would take about 35-40 days to get things shipped from Goteborg to Tianjin, and I suppose that you can half that… Read more »

It’s always been kind of a thing with the Saab car models. Look at the Saab 9000 and Saab 900 (much based on the Saab 99). And even further back, the Saab 96 that ran until 1980 was basically a variant of Saab 93 (introduced in 1956).

Program start up for Epsilon architecture – 9-3, Vectra, Saturn, Chevy, etc.- was in Detroit. Opel got responsibility for lead vehicle – Vectra – and hence final design of architecture.

SAAB and Detroit did not like what Opel did, and made local improvments, which GM did not realise until too late.

At start up of Epsilon II, an American was placed in Ruesselsheim as Program Manager with order to keep to ONE architecture.

GM does not give a —- about 9-3 unless there is money to earn.

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1 year 2 months ago

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Monique Hubrechts

Transport to anywhere is a cost factor. My partner was a chief engineer on a large crude oil tanker. They pull in every where on a preserved site. Sea side car manufactures like ford in turkey and many others like the millitary take the sea area more than land. For sure nevs will planned it. And TTela.se does not know more than i do. I have for years silent connections inside nevs.

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1 year 2 months ago

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Monique Hubrechts

And to keep on topic what was seen in these nevs dark rooms about the turkish national saab-nevs car. A death Mole.?

NEVS is good at silence. They’ve been practicing it for four years. And yes, what is going on with the “Car for Turkey” that NEVS is supposedly penning?

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1 year 2 months ago

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Monique Hubrechts

A own car is no longer a status symbol as said by Lady Gaga just get a driver licence being 30 years old. The young ones prefer Apple. Do you think the same.? In my saab time saab was indeed a status symbol.

That appears to be the case Monique. In general young people seem to view the car more as an appliance than a machine. The regulators and manufacturers haven’t helped much in this regard resulting in cars that more and more have all the appeal of a fancy toaster. Connectivity, goofy lighting and cupholders get more attention from buyers than the mechanicals. And please, no engine noise to interfere with the infotainment system. Better to feel like one is in the living room than a car. Self driving cars need only include seating that converts to a bed to complete the… Read more »

That website is something, isn’t it? Telling signs include the fact that there isn’t a car to be seen on the website—-I believe I clicked on every link and never saw a photo of a car—-past, present or future. I also did not see on projected date about anything, other than their first 9-3 electric vehicle being built in 2017. But they didn’t say when in 2017—-and they also didn’t talk about selling it, only building it. So what does it mean? They’re building one electric 9-3 in 2017 or they begin mass production and sales in 2017? I also… Read more »

Well, BAIC has a handful of dealers in Mexico now. Hmmm….maybe they can enter the U.S. with some of those old Saab designs, at reasonable prices. Plenty of abandoned Saab enthusiasts would leap at them.

Yes if we have self driving cars give me citroen DS lounge beds in the rear full width, Or two single as in the datsun 1200 coupe with auto levelling. With the DS having auto corningLights you will relaxed finding a open air cinema. Have done this with the two above. Than saab turbo.

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1 year 2 months ago

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Monique Hubrechts

3cyl nice post to make a self driven car into a transport vehicle over the roads with auto speed heading for paris france and auto return. In the mean time just relax driving and have some nice talks. Our former company jet pilot said that the car can be faster in time.

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1 year 2 months ago

Guest

Monique Hubrechts

The dark side of the moon. Do you really believe that after the silence and no alerts from other sources that THT wiil crank out these primer bodies via a trans seberian railway route to final destination in china. While their is new plant in progress. Never seen such operation before on just a scale. The whole looks like the phantom of the opera.

Seems like folly. Companies sometimes behave this way to encourage investment—-I’m not saying for sure that NEVS is guilty of this, but others have been. Lots of talk, even a couple prototypes built, hiring people to make it look like things are happening and that major moves are imminent—-it keeps funding viable and it piques interest, but nothing ever comes of it. Sometimes it’s very difficult to distinguish between a company that’s really developing something to bring to market and a company that’s a front. An example is Elio, the three wheeler vehicle with Paul Elio in charge. That is… Read more »

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